1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin-containing composition containing a novel polymer compound useful as various functional materials, a liquid application method and a liquid application apparatus, and particularly to an ink composition using such a compound together with a solvent and a coloring material, and a liquid application method and a liquid application apparatus using such a composition.
The polymer compound or block polymer compound as used in the present invention permits preparing an ink composition and a toner composition, which are excellent in storability and light fastness, so that such a polymer compound can be utilized for various kinds of liquid application methods and liquid application apparatus using recording materials such as the ink composition and toner composition.
2. Related Background Art
As aqueous dispersion materials containing functional substances, have been well known coloring materials containing a colorant, such as inks and toners. In recent years, digital printing technology has been very vigorously developed. Typical examples of this digital printing technology include those called electrophotographic technology and ink-jet technology, and its importance as image-forming technology in homes. and offices has more and more increased in recent years.
Among these, the ink-jet technology has a great feature as a direct recording method that it is compact and low in consumed power. Technological development toward high-quality images is also quickly advanced by the development of finer nozzles or the like. An example of the ink-jet technology is a method in which an ink fed from an ink tank is evaporated and bubbled by heating it by a heater in a nozzle, thereby ejecting the ink to form an image on a recording medium. Another example is a method in which an ink is ejected from a nozzle by vibrating a piezoelectric element.
Although aqueous dye solutions have been generally used as inks used in these ink-jet methods, it has been investigated in recent years to use pigment-dispersed inks from the viewpoints of water fastness and image density (U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,698). In any event, however, many improvements have been yet demanded for storability, particularly, light fastness or the like, under these circumstances.